The fourth full-length feature from audacious filmmaker Darren Aronofsky, The Wrestler casts Mickey Rourke as Randy “The Ram” Robinson, a big-time ‘80s grappler who has fallen on hard times and now supplements the income from his part-time supermarket job with brutal appearances on the independent wrestling circuit. Randy’s depressing existence starts to look up, however, after he successfully reaches out to his estranged daughter Stephanie (Evan Rachel Wood) and even begins a tentative relationship with a beautiful stripper named Cassidy (Marisa Tomei), though his newfound peace of mind is inevitably threatened after the opportunity for a career-saving yet health-damaging rematch arises.

Since its September ’08 premieres at the Venice and Toronto film festivals, The Wrestler has been riding an almost unprecedented wave of critical acclaim and positive buzz. The film, which was picked up for a cool $4 million at Toronto, has certainly managed to live up to the hype, as it’s a uncommonly riveting character study that easily boasts the most effective and flat-out affecting performance of Mickey Rourke’s tumultuous career. The actor’s admittedly grizzled features prove a perfect match for Randy “The Ram,” and, although Nicolas Cage was initially set to step into the character’s shoes, Rourke has placed an indelible stamp on the role that has all but assured him an Oscar come February. The end result is a piece of work that’s almost impossible to dislike.

Though it may appear to be, on the surface, just another sports movie, The Wrestler boasts a number of qualities that instantly set it apart from its athletically minded brethren. Screenwriter Robert Siegel has crafted a low-key story that revolves almost entirely around the central character’s redemption, as Randy doggedly attempts to atone for his past mistakes and start anew with the two women in his life. Rourke’s heartbreaking work certainly proves instrumental in ensuring that Randy ultimately comes off as a surprisingly relatable figure, while Aronofsky’s fly-on-the-wall directorial choices lend the proceedings a gritty, down-to-earth vibe that’s almost documentary-like in its impact. The added benefit of Marisa Tomei cast as a sultry stripper surely doesn’t hurt, and it seems entirely likely that The Wrestler is destined to join the pantheon of films designed to make men cry -- with the sequence in which Randy tearfully attempts to reconcile with his daughter being the film’s single-most affecting moment.